West Nipissing, ON, Coun. Anne Tessier said the town’s vaccine mandate caused “a lot of unnecessary harm and animosity within our workforce and community.” .“I believe that this policy was mistakenly adopted 12 months ago,” said Tessier in a Thursday video. .The video starts off with another West Nipissing town councillor saying council agreed with staff’s recommendation in December to rescind the vaccine mandate. .“Be it therefore resolved that the vaccination policy 2022-18 is hereby rescinded effective immediately,” said the councillor. .Tessier said she would like to comment. She said the general population now knows COVID-19 vaccines do not stop the spread of the virus. .The town councillor went on to say council was “well aware that the spread did not correlate with vaccination status prior to this policy being adopted.” A West Nipissing resident presented evidence to council showing Public Health Ontario data proves there were similar numbers of cases per capita between vaccinated and unvaccinated people. .“Unfortunately, the outcome of the vote from municipal council resulted in the implementation of this punitive policy,” she said. .“With all my heart, I extend my apologies to those who were affected negatively by this policy, and I hope that as a municipality and a community, we can move forward.” .The City of Toronto said in November its vaccine mandate for employees, volunteers, and contractors would be rescinded in December. .READ MORE: City of Toronto drops COVID vaccine requirement for staff.“I am proud more than 35,000 members of the Toronto Public Service got vaccinated to protect themselves, their family, the community, and their co-workers,” said City of Toronto Interim City Manager Tracey Cook. .“The vaccination policy achieved its goal and we will continue to follow all the science, evidence, and public health advice as we move forward.”
